What are some words that can describe or show a recipe for what positive team chemistry looks like? Determination, belief, selflessness. It helps to have a group of people who have stuck around long enough to cultivate a supportive culture amongst the players. This season, the Las Vegas Aces added a player who fits their team culture seamlessly, and that player is a rookie by the name of Kate Martin.
Las Vegas selected Martin in the second round of the 2024 draft. Before the draft, Martin was coming off a second consecutive national championship game appearance with Iowa, and there was a cloud of uncertainty surrounding the future of her playing career.
She may not be the team’s most productive player on the court, but she has gained valuable experience from being around great players over recent years. This can be traced back to the start of her collegiate career at Iowa.
The 2018-2019 season marked Martin’s first year at Iowa. Before she had the chance to play a regular season game, she suffered a torn ACL and meniscus and was unavailable to play that season.
Her first year happened to coincide with the final collegiate season of her teammate Megan Gustafson, who earned National Player of the Year honors and led Iowa to the Elite Eight. According to Her Hoop Stats, Gustafson averaged 27.8 points per game (PPG) and 13.4 rebounds per game (RPG) that season. With a total of 1,001 points scored in her final season, Gustafson currently stands as one of six different players in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history to score more than 1,000 points in a season.
After her legendary collegiate career, Gustafson was drafted in the second round of the 2019 draft. For Martin, spending a season closely watching Gustafson “instilled a little bit of what it takes to get to that level.”
Martin saw very little playing time in her first season of action after her recovery from the ACL and meniscus injuries. However, over the next four seasons, she was a mainstay in the team’s starting lineup; she started all 139 games that she played.
Her four seasons as a starter also coincided with the four-year career of another all-time great Iowa player: Caitlin Clark. Clark finished her collegiate career as the all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I basketball history, earned National Player of the Year honors twice, and helped the team reach back-to-back national championship games.
Clark is a great player in her own right, particularly with her three-point shooting ability, but she also possesses the ability to make teammates around her better with her passing. Playing with Clark over time, Martin raised her level of production, and her final season proved to be her best one. According to Her Hoop Stats: from the 2020-2021 season to the 2022-2023 season, Martin’s per-game averages were between seven and eight points, and between four and five rebounds. In her final season at Iowa, Martin averaged 13.1 PPG and 6.8 RPG.
That final season featured some big-time moments from Martin in big games. She hit three clutch three-point shots in the waning minutes of regulation and overtime in the team’s Big Ten championship game victory over Nebraska. Then, during March Madness, she scored 16 of her 21 points in the second half in the team’s Elite Eight win against LSU. The following game, in the fourth quarter of the Final Four game against UConn, Martin made three huge buckets off of drives to the basket to keep her team ahead and secure the win.
Martin has spoken about her aspirations to be a coach when her playing career is over, and there was no guarantee about having a spot on a WNBA roster. The future of her playing career was up in the air. Her positive end-of-season performances, especially during March Madness, turned out to help give her name a boost as a potential draftee in the 2024 draft. She certainly caught the attention of the Aces.
On the night of the draft, she was initially at the event to support and watch Clark become the first overall pick. But later on, to the surprise and joy of many people, Martin was drafted “out of the crowd” by the Aces.
Las Vegas selected her, along with Angel Jackson, Dyaisha Fair and Elizabeth Kitley in this past draft. However, Martin stands as the lone rookie who is playing on the active roster. Jackson was waived before the regular season, Fair was waived after the team’s first four regular season games, and Kitley has not played this season due to a torn ACL.
Martin finds herself on a team with several great players, such as A’ja Wilson, Chelsea Gray, Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young. She’s even reunited with Gustafson, her fellow Iowa alum. People see the fun camaraderie among the Aces players on display, whether it is on the court or social media; Martin has had no problem acclimating to that environment as a rookie.
From being forced to wear South Carolina gear (a month after losing to South Carolina in the national championship game), or the team bus preparing to leave without her, she has taken on the harmless fun and games with a smile and enjoyed her time playing in the league.
Martin’s name has been close to the top in jersey sales this season. Also, “Martinis” shirts were created for Martin fans to wear (even Alysha Clark has one.) Additionally, she received a high amount of fan votes for the All-Star Game.
Martin has a following of fans from her time at Iowa and has surely gained more fans since being in the league. She has been a very popular figure in the WNBA. But, for Martin, that means more people watching for her will get to watch a group of other amazing players on the Aces.
In 33 games this season, Martin is averaging 2.4 PPG, 1.5 RPG and 0.8 assists per game (APG) while playing 10.9 minutes per game (MPG). In addition, she is shooting 36.8 percent from three-point range.
Two of her most noteworthy performances occurred at the start of the season. On May 25, she tallied 12 points and seven rebounds in a 99-80 home win over the Indiana Fever. She even outscored Caitlin Clark, who struggled with only eight points, in their first-ever WNBA meeting against each other.
🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ https://t.co/QtAK56L6pJ pic.twitter.com/Bcdo6nqWr7
— Las Vegas Aces (@LVAces) May 26, 2024
On June 9, she started a game for the first time in place of Young, who missed the game due to illness. Martin had a career-high 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists in a 96-92 road loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. She was five-of-seven from the field and made all three of her three-point attempts.
In her time on the court, Martin has shown herself to be a quality three-point shooter. On defense, she can stick with the player that she is guarding and make the occasional big defensive play.
In the Aces’ final game before the Olympic break, Martin went down on the court with a lower leg injury. Her teammates surrounded her and put up towels to keep cameras from observing the injury.
Wilson spoke about the injury by saying, “We’re going to take care of her, no matter what because she’s one of us. She’s our sister, and someone that we’re going to always depend on and count on.”
With the Aces players, it is a culture of love and fun. But don’t be mistaken: it is also a culture that features the hunger to chase championship aspirations, and Wilson is at the front of that. Wilson has had an incredible season and is likely on her way to winning her third WNBA MVP award.
In their quest for a three-peat, the Aces’ season has been much rockier this time around, compared to how well they performed the previous two seasons. Despite that, Wilson has put together one of the greatest individual seasons in history to keep her team afloat and earn a top 4 seed for the playoffs.
Martin has called Wilson the best player in the world, and the best leader she’s been around.
Since the team’s return from the Olympic break, Martin’s on-court minutes have dwindled, but she is continuing to watch and learn from her teammates and coaches.
If the Aces are going to give themselves the best chance to win another title, they need reliable production from their bench players. Last year, they were last in bench points during the regular season (13.5 PPG). This season, their bench is at 14.8 PPG. Tiffany Hayes has been a constant spark for the team off the bench, but they could use more scoring production from the rest of their reserves.
Over the years, whether it’s being around Wilson, Caitlin Clark or Gustafson, Martin has had opportunities to witness and draw from greatness. Conversely, teammates have also absorbed what she provides for a team. Along with the tangible skills, her presence represents learning, professionalism, leadership, love and the meaning of “team.” These are the ingredients to the recipe of her success as a basketball player.
She has gotten valuable playing time at points this season and proved she has what it takes to succeed and have a long-term spot in the league. Yes, Martin is one of the more popular players in the league, but she is also a good WNBA player with the opportunity to be even better.
Stats as of September 19. Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of WNBA.com.
